[ARC5] Type 185 Radio Receiver?

Sun Jan 7 20:31:01 EST 2018

Thanks again guys for the even-more detailed info.  The depth of expertise
on this list is incredible!

Thank you so much for your time and research...
Tim
N6CC

On Sun, Jan 7, 2018 at 5:12 PM, Michael Bittner <mmab at cox.net> wrote:

> Tim, Here are some notes on the 185 from Dave AB5S, and Mike / KK5F.  I
> got my unit from Dave.  Mike, W6MAB
>
>
>
> Reference ebay item:  280791538833,  or better, http://www.ebay.com/itm/
> 280791538833
>
> A Bureau of Aeronautics item - but battery powered.
> The manual for these sets indicates they were built to be used in Navy
> trainer aircraft.  These sets were taken for cross-country training and
> returned after the flight to be re-issued.  In most cases, only the
> flight leader carried a transmitter.  Everyone else carried a "range"
> receiver with which to train and got any orders by hand signals.  Towers on
> Longwave could also give "one-way" orders, acknowledged by wing-wags.  There
> are HF versions of this set (I have one), so the flight leader could talk
> to anyone so equipped.
>
> Although it's technically a Navy set, somewhere in this mess I have a
> photo of an AAFC (Army Air Forces Ferrying Command) pilot carrying one on
> the flight line.  AAFC operated during WWII as a branch of Air Transport
> Command.   Among other missions they "ferried" aircraft to various
> destinations, freeing combat-qualified pilots for front-line duty.  The
> famous WASP (Women’s Army Service Pilot) used a lot of these, and
> collecting the wide variety of battery-operated or easily-powered sets they
> used is a special interest of mine.
>
> These "temporary" sets were issued to pilots at the time of flight, and
> either turned-in at the end of the flight or brought back to home base as
> checked baggage on the train.  The rigs often had provisions for
> connecting at least two headsets and many also provided for a microphone so
> the receiver audio stages could be used as an "intercom" between
> pilot/copilot or trainee/trainer.
>
> The Navy's "Manual of Bureau of Aeronautics," 1940 issue, pp. 151, Section
> 3, Chapter 13-303, "Ferrying of Naval Aircraft,"paragraph (4):
>
>
> "The senior airplane in each flight shall be equipped with two-way radio
> equipment if practicable.  Other airplanes of the flight will be similarly
> equipped, or will have a beacon receiver."
> Paragraph (7) charges Naval Air Station San Diego with keeping ferrying
> radio equipment in good order as it is turned-in.
> Paragraph (8) directs that all stations maintain personnel who can repair
> and issue beacon receivers.
>
> If a battery-operated light aircraft set was available during WWII, it
> probably saw some service with AAFC.  All the battery-operated RCA
> transmitters, Learavian and other such show-up in Signal Corps documents.
>
> GL ES 73 DE Dave AB5S
>
>
>
> My Type 185 Receiver with Type 186 Battery Box is on a later contract,
> NO(as)-2876, serial number 33.  The auction item is NO(as)-185, serial
> 501.  Mine was new, never used condition, with the initial set of dry
> batteries in the box that have not physically deteriorated after 67 years.
> The paper inspection tag on mine is dated 12-13-44.
>
> There are a lot of mechanical similarities to the earlier Type B-3 beacon
> band receiver made by Radio Frequency Labs in Boonton, a predecessor to
> Aircraft Radio Corporation.  I don't know how Boonton Radio Company, the
> maker of the Type 185/186, fits in with RFL and ARC.  The Type B-3 is of
> very high quality construction.
>
> This set is a sort of super high quality, very expensive, rather large and
> heavy USN version of the popular civilian post-war Motorola Airboy and the
> several other commercial portable battery-powered beacon band receivers
> that were available to private pilots willing to cough up $30 (about $300
> today) or more!  The single most important piece of aircraft radio gear for
> years after WWII was a beacon band receiver.
>
> I seem to recall that the manual for my set specifically mentioned use in
> the N3N-3 biplane primary trainer.
>
> Mike / KK5F
>
>
>
> Sandy wrote:
>
> From the threads that have appeared, I was "wondering: about"......was
> this the birth of the Motorola Airboy and Airboy Sr.?  I had one of the
> Airboy Seniors once and fooled with it a bit in a friend's Piper J-3,
> devoid of any electrical system with it's Continental A-65 engine!  3105
> khz and a short wire antenna wasn't conducive for long haul communications!
>
> Certainly the Airboy, which was a 200 to 400 kHz receiver only, filled the
> same need that the Type 185/186 did for USN training a few years earlier.
> The Airboy Sr. was a considerable enhancement with the addition of the AM
> transmitter on 3105 kHz.
>
> There are several of us, including Dave and Lloyd, who find these post-war
> light aircraft sets interesting.  My favorite is the GE AS-1B which was
> being sold in late 1945.  The receiver covered the beacon band and the
> broadcast band, had loop antenna connections, a 1020 Hz AF filter and
> utilized an RF stage at the front.  The transmitter was the ever-popular
> 6V6 PA plate-modulated by a 6V6 on 3105 kHz.  In the early 1950s this
> plane-to-tower traffic shifted to 3023.5 kHz which today is allocated to
> support SAR service communications.
>
> The Airboy BCB receiver was $30 in 1946.  The AS-1B receiver-transmitter
> was $200 in 1946, about $2300 today.  The A.R.C. R-11A BCB receiver was,
> IIRC, about $150 new in 1946.
>
> Mike / KK5F
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Tim <timsamm at gmail.com>
> *To:* ARC-5 List <ARC5 at mailman.qth.net>
> *Sent:* Sunday, January 07, 2018 3:21 PM
> *Subject:* [ARC5] Type 185 Radio Receiver?
>
> A friend surfaced one, NIB.  Few details but he is interested in its
> function.
> Receiver is a cube shape, cabled to a battery box underneath which
> includes a carrying strap. Black wrinkle paint.. Does not look to have a
> shock mount..
> It carries a contract number NOa (S) 185, the (Navy?) manual is dated 1943
> but does not look "military"..
>
> I'm guessing a portable NDB Nav receiver possibly for ferrying aircraft.
> Sorry, no other identification details.
>
> Any ideas on this minimal description?  Thanks
> Tim
> N6CC
>
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